Garment rack attachment for ironing boards



June 25, 1957 s. T. SALTNESS GARMENT RACK ATTACHMENT FOR IRONING BOARDSFiled Oct. 21, 1955 42 INVENTOR. sums; -r.. SA\ TNE$S ATTolz N s'vsUnite States PatentO GARMENT RACK ATTACHlVIENT FOR IRONING BOARDS SadieT. Saltness, Dawson, Minn.

Application October 21, 1955, Serial No. 541,942

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-86) This invention relates to a rack for supportinggarments and other fabric articles, and more particularly has referenceto a rack adapted to be detachably connected to an ironing board, mangletable, sewing table, or similar work surface so that articles may besupported by said rack on conventional garment hangers suspended fromthe rack, at locations convenient to the work surface.

In the ironing of dresses and other garments, or in the performance ofother operations upon said garments, such as sewing, etc., it is amatter of some inconvenience to the housewife or other worker to leavethe immediate vicinity of the work surface to hang the garment upon aconventional garment hanger and suspend the same from a support such asa clothes bar of a closet. Accordingly, the main object of the presentinvention is to provide a generally improved rack attachable directly tothe ironing board or other work surface, which rack will be adapted forsupporting a plurality of conventional garment hangers, on which thegarments, after being ironed or otherwise acted upon, can beconveniently placed.

A more specific object is to provide a rack of the type referred towhich will be particularly adapted to permit its swift and easyattachment to or detachment from the ironing table or other worksurface, so that, following completion of the work, the rack can beremoved and stored away waiting its next use.

Another object is to provide a rack as described which will be foldablefollowing use into a compact, wholly planiform shape, so that it can bestored in a space substantially no wider than the thickness of anycomponent part of the device.

A further object is to provide a device of the type referred to, whichcan be formed almost entirely from wire material at very low expense,thus to permit its manufacture at so low a cost as to enhance to amarked degree the commercial feasibility thereof.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type stated whichwillbe swiftly attachable to ironing boards of various widths andthicknesses, and will-be stably supported in an erect position upon saidironing board in each instance regardless of the differing thicknessesand dimensions of the ironing board or other support.

A further object is to so form and relate the several components of thedevice as to particularly adapt the same for distributing the Weight ofthe supported articles and locate said articles in non-interferingrelation with one another, in closely spaced relation to one side of theironing board.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment rack formed according to thepresent invention, mounted upon an ironing board, a portion of which isshown;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the rack per se folded for storage;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the rack 2,796,994Patented June 25, 1957 in which the ironing board has been shown intransverse section, the dotted lines showing the rack adjustably flexedfor mounting upon an ironing board of greater width than that shown infull lines;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3 showing the devicemounted upon a metal ironing board;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 5-5 of Figure '3;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 3, the scale beingreduced below that used in Figure 5 but being greater than that ofFigure 3; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view similar to Figure 6, the ironing board notbeing shown, the spreadable support rods being shown in folded orcollapsed positions.

The reference numeral 10 generally designates a conventional ironingboard. In Figures 1-6, the ironing board illustrated is of woodenconstruction, and would be, of course, covered with suitable padding,not shown. In this connection, although the garment rack has beenillustrated in association with an ironing board, as will presentlyappear it can be erected with equal facility upon any of various otherwork surfaces, such as sewing tables, etc.

The device constituting the present invention has been generallydesignated at 12, and includes support means projecting upwardly fromand detachably connectable to the ironing board, said support meansbeing formed from a single length of stout wire material bentintermediate its ends to provide a vertical leg 14 and an inclinedsupport leg 16. The support legs 14, 16 are disposed at an acute angleto one another, and as shown in Figure 3, cooperate with the ironingboard in defining a right triangle. At the apex of the triangle, wherethe legs 14, 16 are integrally joined, a spring means is defined, sothat the legs 14, 16 can be springably shifted away from one anotheragainst the restraint of the inherent spring tension thereof, toaccommodate the same to ironing boards of different widths. This isshown to advantage in dotted lines in Figure 3, wherein the legs 14 areshown flexed outwardly, so that the support legs are spaced apart attheir lower ends a distance greater than that shown in full lines inthis figure of the drawings. By reason of the construction illustratedand described, the support means may be appropriately considered asbeing approximately of inverted V-shape. 7

At its lower end, the support leg 14 is integrally formed with a curvedextension 18 projecting toward the lower end 20 of'the support leg 16and adapted to engage against the lower edge of the associated side ofthe ironin board.

The lower end portion 20 of the leg 16 is also of curved formation,although the curvature is substantially more pronounced than that of theextension 18. This provides an inwardly extending, lateral projection ofthe lower end of the inclined support leg, terminating at its free endin a hook-like or rounded part 22 bearing against the underside of theironing board, with the portion 20, where it merges into the leg 16,being frictionally engaged against the adjacent side edge of the ironingboard.

In use of the device, the legs 14, 16 are disposed in a common verticalplane, normal to that of the ironing board and substantiallyperpendicularly related to the longitudinal center line of the ironingboard.

Adjacent the extension 18, there is crimped about or otherwisefixedlysecured to the generally vertical support leg 14 a sleeve 24, saidsleeve as shown in Figure 5 being integrally formed with side by sidechannel portions 26.

A pair of swinging support rods or braces provide feet upon the leg 14,and have been designated at 28, 30respectively. These are also formedfrom wire material,

and at their free ends have short, upwardly extending extensions 32, 34so as to prevent the outer extremities of'the support rods from catchingon the cloth coveuing v of the ironing board.

At their inner ends, the support rods are integrally formed withupwardlyextending portions 36, 3S respectively rotatably engaged inchannelportions Zdof sleeve 24. Since the portions 36, 38 extendparallel to theleg 14; this swinga bly mounts the supportrods'formovement toward and away from oneanother as shown;in Figures 6and 7, in a common plane perpendicular to the length of the support leg14; I

At the upper ends of portions 36; 38 there are formed laterallyprojecting, oppositely curved fingers 40,. 42 adapted to-engage againstdiametrically opposite surfaces of the support leg 14 when the rods; 28,39" are swung. away from one another to their use'positions as in Figure6. The fingers thus provide stops limiting, the outward. swingingmovement or spreading of the support rods, and when the support rodshave been adjusted outwardly from one another to their maximum extent,they are. disposed in acute-angular relationship in engagement with. thetop surface of the ironing board 10.

Due to this arrangement, the device, when it is to be used, can beswiftly attached. to the ironing board, merely by flexing the leg 14outwardly a distance sutficient to permitengagement of the inwardlycurved lower end portions of the support legs with opposite longitudinaledges of the ironing board in the manner shown in Figures 1 and 3. Then,the support rods 28, 36 are swung outwardly from one another from theirFigure 7; folded positions, in opposite directions out of the plane ofthe support means 14, 16. This firmly supports the device in its useposition, holding the same against lateral tilting in either direction.

Welded or otherwise fixedly secured to the upper end portion of thesupport leg 14 is an approximately C-shaped upper garment support member44, the bight 47 of which is affixed to the support leg 14 inlongitudinallycontacting relation thereto, with said bight extending ashort distance above the upper extremity of the leg 14. Integral withthe bight at opposite ends thereof are horizontally, outwardly extendinggarment hanger support arms 46, 48 of different lengths, the upper oneof said arms being longer than the lower, the arms terminating at theirfree ends in upwardly projecting extensions providing stops to limitaccidental movement of the garmenthangers, not shown, OK the supportarms. The different lengths ofthe support arms are adapted to permit thegarment hangersto be disposed in adjacent, vertical planes,. innonrinterfering relationship with one another, at the outer ends of thearms 46, 48.

Below the upper support member 44 there is provided a generally C-shapedlower support member 50, secured to leg 14 in the same manner as member44, and having an upper support arm 52 longer than the lower support arm54 thereof. Arms 52, 54 terminate, at their free ends in outwardlyextending fingers or projections, and as will be noted in Figure 3, thearm 52' is shorter than the arm 48 of the upper member. As aresultofthis arrangement, garment hangers can be suspended: from. theseveral arms 46, 48, 52, 54,.in closely spaced vertical planes, withoutinterference with each other, and: garments can be placed upon saidhangers after they. have been ironed or after other work has beenperformed thereon. The supported garments are all disposed in closelyspaced relation to the support 10, so as. to locate the weight of thesupported garment as close to the support means 14, 16, as possible andso as, further, to convenicntly locate the garments where they willnotinterfere with the performance of the work. V

The support rods 28, 39 of course, aid in. supporting the weight of thegarment, and also prevent tilting. of the device when it is in use. Anytendency of the device to tilt. in its own plane is resisted, of course,byengageme'nt of the curved extensions 18, 29 against the underside ofthe ironing board, at opposite sides thereof, and by reason of theconstruction illustrated, although the device is quite light andinexpensively constructed, it is adapted to support in a very stablemanner, substantial weight.

When the device is not in use, it can be swiftly detached from theironing board, after which the legs 28, 30 fold into the common plane ofthe support legs 14, 16, hanger 7 support member 44, and support member50. All components of the device are now in a common plane, in effect,so that a completely planiform device results as shown in Figure 2,which can be stored in a space of very low transverse dimension.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles, it being considered that the inventioncomprehends'anyminor change in construction that may be permitted withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A garment rack for attachment to ironing boards and the like,comprising: a support having the general shape of an inverted V andincluding a pair of coplanar support legs respectively extendingupwardly from and engageable with opposite sides of an ironing board,said legs being formed at their lower ends with inwardly directedextensions adapted to engage the underside of said board; a plurality ofgarment support arms projecting laterally, outwardly from one of saidlegs in the plane of the legs; and a pair. of support rods extendinglaterally, inwardly from said one leg above the extension thereof forengaging against the upper surface of said board.

2. A garment rack for attachment to ironing boards and the like,comprising; a support having the general shape of an inverted V andincluding a pair of coplanar support legs respectively extendingupwardly from and engageable with opposite sides of an ironing board,said legs being formed at their lower ends with inwardly directedextensions adapted to engage the. underside of said board; a pluralityof garment support arms projecting laterally, outwardly from one ofsaid. legs in the plane of the legs; and a pair of support rodsextending laterally, inwardly from said one leg above the extensionthereof for engaging against the upper surface of. said board, said rodsbeing swingably mounted. upon said one leg for movement between aninoperative position in which the rods are extended in longitudinallycontacting relation in the common plane of the leg, and a use positionin which the rods are angularly related to one another and project inopposite directions out of said plane.

3. A garment rack for attachment to ironing boards and the like,comprising: a support having the. general shape of an inverted V andincluding a pair. of coplanar support legs one of which is extendedapproximately vertically and the other of which is inclinedsubstantially. from the vertical, said legs respectively extendingupwardly from and being engageable with opposite sides, of an ironingboard and being formed at their lower ends with inwardly directedextensions .adapted to engage the underside of said board; a pluralityof garment support members of generally C-shaped configurationprojecting laterally, outwardly from said one leg, each member includinga bight fixedly secured to said one leg in longitudinally contactingrelation. therewith and a pair of substantially horizontal disposedsupport arms, the arms of each pair being of different lengths with thelonger arm being disposed above the shorter armandthelonger. arm of thelowermost member being shorter. than theshorter arm of the member nextabove the same, said members. being spaced longitudinally of said. oneleg;.-a-nd. a. pair of support rods swingably mounted upon said. oneleg. at a. location between the lowermost garment supportmemher and theboard-engaging extension of said one leg, said rods being swingable in aplane normal to the length of said one leg between an inoperativeposition in which the rods are disposed in longitudinally contactingrelation substantially in a common plane of the legs and members, and ause position in which the rods are acutely related, and project inopposite directions out of 'said plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSch-oonmaker Feb. 12, 1907 Megill Dec. 7, 1915 Sacerdote Nov. 5, 1929Goeddeke June 2, 1936 Fish Oct. 5, 1937 Rom Nov. 14, 1939 Halsey July 1,1941 Seitz Nov. 4, 1941 Farr June 2, 1953

